Author: Brad Beckett

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales rose 1.6% in in February, 2024.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) came in at 75.6 in February.  In addition,while the NAR pointed out that year over year, pending transactions were down 7%, they say slow & steady progress is being made.  Indeed… “While modest sales growth might not stir excitement, it shows slow and steady progress from the lows of late last year…Ongoing job gains are clearly increasing demand along with more inventory.”  Said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. Click here…

In late March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that makes it easier to remove squatters – which, as we have seen, is a growing problem across the nation.  According to WPTV, under the new law, a property owner can request law enforcement to immediately remove a squatter if the person has unlawfully entered, has refused to leave after being told by the homeowner to do so and is not a current or former tenant in a legal dispute. Boom… “We are putting an end to the squatters scam in Florida,” DeSantis said. “While other states are siding with the…

This Sunday, March 31st is Easter. Each year the holiday falls on the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox. Interestingly, the date fluctuates each year between March 22nd and April 25th. Today’s infographic from the dataviz blog takes a look at “Easter by the Numbers” all the way from the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the number of chocolate Easter bunnies consumed annually. Stay safe and have a Happy Easter and a Happy Good Friday!!! So what exactly is Easter? The History Channel says: “Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the belief in the resurrection…

Local Market Monitor, a National REIA preferred vendor, recently released their monthly National Economic Outlook where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook By Ingo WInzer March, 2024 Newly available data from the fourth quarter of 2023 don’t make the home price situation any clearer. On average, home prices increased about 5 percent in the past year, pretty much as they had in the previous two quarters. This means that the surge of the last few years is over but provides little guidance about when and what kind of price readjustment will…

We have been following the growing problem of squatters and how it is adversely affecting residential communities across the nation.  Now comes one we can hardly believe and really takes the cake;  A recent storyy in the New York Post says migrant TikToker with a 500k-strong online social media following is offering his fellow migrants tips on how to “invade” unoccupied homes in America and invoke squatter’s rights.  Yeah, you read that right. According to the NY Post, the Venezuelan national Leonel Moreno appears to live in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, and said in a recent video that under…

On a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors, Kathy Fettke discusses what the latest inflation reports are telling us, why home sellers might be jumping for joy, and where we’ll be seeing the most single-family construction.  Take a listen…. Click here to listen on Spotify.com.

According to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes climbed three points to 51 in March – the highest level since July 2023 and the fourth consecutive monthly gain for the index. A score of 50 is considered the breakeven point. The NAHB says that a lack of existing inventory continues to drive buyers to new home construction, coupled with strong demand and mortgage rates below last fall’s cycle peak helped push builder sentiment above a key marker in March. “Buyer demand remains brisk…

According to the latest CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), U.S. single-family home rental prices rose by 2.6% year over year in January 2024.  CoreLogic says rent growth slowed in January on both a monthly and yearly basis and has not been in double digits since the fall of 2022. However, they do point out that overall growth since February 2020 is about 28%, reflecting continued demand for rental properties.  Indeed… “While annual U.S. single-family rent growth was a moderate 2.6% in January, that increase built on years of above-trend annual gains…Furthermore, while rent growth is slowing, costs are still increasing…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales were up 9.5% in February to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million – the largest monthly increase since February 2023. However, they were down 3.3% year over year.  Total housing inventory at the end of February was 1.07 million units, up 5.9% from January and up 10.3% from one year ago.  Unsold inventory sits at a 2.9-month supply at the current sales rate with properties remaining on the market for around 38 days.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in February was $384,500, up 5.7% from…

The U.S. government is reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,521,000, which is 10.7% higher than January’s revised number and is 5.9% higher than one year ago.  February’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 377k.  Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,518,000, which is 1.9% higher than January’s revised number and is 2.4% higher than one year ago.  Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 429k in…